Trial of man accused of killing Bullhead City girl delayed; hearing set for April 19

KINGMAN, Ariz. — The trial of a man accused of killing an 8-year-old girl in Bullhead City in 2014 is again being delayed.

Judge Lee Jantzen of Mohave County Superior Court canceled a scheduled April 29 trial for James Rector in the killing of Isabella Grogan-Cannella and also postponed a hearing scheduled for Monday to April 19.

The evidentiary hearing was scheduled partly because Rector agreed last December to plead guilty to first-degree murder but in January asked to withdraw from the plea agreement.

Jantzen also ordered that a defense lawyer be appointed for Rector, who was representing himself but who said in a motion that he didn’t know how to do the required work.

Under the plea agreement, Rector would have been sentenced to life in prison without parole for 35 years.

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